Eric Alexander of Glasgow, Scotland, once wrote: “There is
little doubt that Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was the greatest preacher the
English speaking world has seen in the 20th century. Those of us who
have had the privilege of hearing him will not easily forget the sense of awe
which came upon one’s soul as he was gripped by the glory of the Gospel, and
God spoke with such power through him. Yet it was not the man who lingered in
the mind, nor was the lasting impression one of human gifts and intellectual
abilities, or personal magnetism. Rather, it was the power of truth, the
greatness of God, the poverty of man, and the glorious relevance and authority
of Holy Scripture which left an indelible mark on his hearers.”
In the fall of 1963 Dr. Lloyd-Jones preached a series of
sermons at Westminster Chapel in London on the words of the Apostle Paul in
Galatians 6:14, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.”
Interestingly, in this nine-week series entitled, “The Cross”, he preached nine
messages and the sixth one was preached less than 48 hours after John F.
Kennedy was shot and killed. He entitled it, “He Is Our Peace”. Instead of
doing what many preachers would do, he proceeded with his message rather than
interrupting it to give a special address of John Kennedy and his life. He
continued his series on Galatians without ignoring the events of Dallas or the
impact of the young President’s death. Instead, he incorporated Kennedy’s death
into his message noting that there’s only one thing that can reconcile men to
God and each other and that’s the murder of Jesus Christ.
Lloyd-Jones concluded his sermon this way: “Stop thinking in
terms of nations, think of yourself first. Is that old pride there, is this the
thing that governs you? I pray that God may show us to ourselves in the light
of the cross of Christ, that all our ugly pride may go, and that we may see our
utter hopelessness and helplessness. I pray that we may look up to Him who
loved us so dearly, that He even gave His life voluntarily in order that we
might be rescued and saved, reconciled to God, and reconciled to our fellow men
and women. God forbid that I should glory in anything save in the death on the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This week we will seek to glory in the cross. Our text this
Sunday is Galatians 3:10-14 – five verses that are said to be so offensive that
many Bible commentators seek to explain them away. The problem is they can’t!
To explain away what Paul is saying here is to obscure the Gospel at best and
corrupt it at worst. As Joachim Jeremias once said, “It is offensive. Yet Paul
meant every word of it, so we must come to terms with a passage like this.” We
will see to do so this Sunday.
In preparation for Sunday you may wish to consider the
following:
- Read II Corinthians 5:21. How does this text relate to Galatians 3:10-14?
- Do you agree that the cross is the single most recognizable symbol in all of human history?
- What was Constantine’s view of the cross?
- How do verses 10 & 11 set forth the “why” of the cross?
- How does the law bring a curse on those who are under it?
- How does verse 13 set forth the “what” of the cross, i.e. what takes place there?
- What does it mean that Jesus Christ became a curse for us?
- How is Jesus being a curse good news for us?
- How does verse 14 set for the “how” of the cross, i.e. how it relates to us?
- What does John Stott mean when he says, “Substitution is the essence of Christianity”?
